Today, we are running a bonus Business Breakdown borrowed from the newest Colossus series, Return on India. Saahil Goel, founder of Shiprocket, joins Romeen Sheth to break down the business. If you enjoy this episode and would like to learn more about the Indian business landscape, subscribe to Return on India.   ----- My guest today is Saahil Goel, founder and CEO of Shiprocket. Over the last decade, a number of startups that have reached escape velocity in India have followed the X for Y startup model. They've taken influence from something that works in the US and western markets and applied it to India. The next generation of winners will build Native India use cases, and Shiprocket is a perfect example. The business started out as Shopify for India and eventually pivoted to an e-commerce logistics aggregator when they realized the underlying infrastructure that made Shopify successful in the west didn't exist in India. Fast forward, and Shiprocket is one of the fastest-growing and most well-positioned technology companies in India today. We unpack how to build for India, from India, how to capture value from India's long tail merchant segment, which is over 60 million businesses, and the common headline pitfalls investors fall into when evaluating startups in India. Please enjoy my conversation with Saahil Goel.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Return On India is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Return On India, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @RomeenSheth | @joincolossus   Show Notes [00:02:47] - [First question] - The first iteration of Shiprocket back in 2012 called KartRocket [00:08:26] - What drove the pivot from KartRocket to Shiprocket [00:12:13] - Examples of why US eCommerce models just don’t take off in India  [00:19:28] - The challenges of building businesses for consumers outside of India [00:25:54] - Courrier aggregation and capturing value in this type of business model  [00:31:22] - Why the large pre-existing couriers aren’t attacking this space successfully  [00:34:35] - Unpacking what RTO is and its scale and challenges specifically in India  [00:39:56] - How software and intelligence drives the ability to know the consumer in a way that larger infrastructure and couriers can’t in India  [00:43:31] - Similarities between the rise of Shiprocket and the prior evolution of the Chinese eCommerce and tech ecosystems    [00:46:59] - The next pieces that need to be built for Shiprocket for them to continue growing and succeeding at the rate they are [00:53:07] - The tension of vertical integration without building out capital-intensive infrastructure  [00:55:53] - Thoughts about the opportunity set for India going forward 

This is Matt Reustle, and today we are breaking down the specialty retailer, Floor & Decor. Now prior to this Breakdown, I cannot say that I thought much about Floor & Decor. It felt like the stereotypical specialty store that sat somewhere between a mom-and-pop shop and a home improvement giant. Little did I know....Floor & Decor had compounded revenue at nearly 30% over the past decade, and it was another business driven by the things you "don't see," like an inventory and logistics strategy that feels proper for a brick-and-mortar business in the 21st century. To break down Floor & Decor, I am joined by Drew Cohen of Speedwell Research. I hope you enjoy the episode. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Business Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Business Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @JoinColossus | @patrick_oshag | @jspujji | @zbfuss | @ReustleMatt   Show Notes [00:02:54] - [First question] - The origin story of Floor & Decor  [00:04:41] - Size of the flooring market and the ongoing battle between hard surface and carpet flooring [00:07:26] - A shift in ownership in 2009 and how much that changed the business [00:08:08] - High level overview of the business today writ large [00:09:30] - Independent players and their competitive landscape  [00:12:34] - Unique differentiators that give them a competitive advantage  [00:15:42] - Their customer split between pros and DIY consumers [00:16:30] - Key drivers that allow them to leverage their position with inventory providers [00:18:46] - Whether or not they’ve considered doing private label or in house products [00:19:45] - Their store model from top to bottom and the economics involved  [00:22:03] - What their maturity looks like and what metrics they’re watching  [00:22:46] - Existing commercial opportunities for Floor and Decor [00:26:04] - Overview of their earnings profile from a bottom line perspective  [00:27:05] - The Home Depot: The Pro Builder’s Choice; Drivers of their 500 basis point differential in terms of their mature margin profile [00:29:17] - Nick Sleep’s 2005 Letter; Considerations about franchising  [00:29:48] - How he thinks about growth beyond their existing footprint and potential growth impacts from the economy  [00:32:06] - The level of revenue generated from the Decor side of their business [00:33:02] - How ecommerce might impact their growth, if at all  [00:35:44] - Overview of their good, better, best pricing strategy  [00:37:56] - Variance of store level performance from region to region  [00:39:20] - The chemistry of all their strategies that contribute to sustained growth  [00:41:37] - The general investment sentiment around their brand   [00:44:37] - Other potential risks to Floor and Decor  [00:45:48] - The Secret of our Success [00:47:24] - Key lessons for investors when studying Floor and Decor